Asian Markets Edge Lower In Thin Holiday Trading

(RTTNews) - Most of the Asian stock markets are closed on Friday for the Christmas holiday. However, the markets in Japan and China are modestly lower in subdued trading despite the slight gains overnight on Wall Street in a holiday-shortened trading session following news that U.K. and the European Union have reached a post-Brexit trade agreement.

The Japanese is little changed despite the modest gains overnight on Wall Street. Investors turned cautious amid the continued surge in the number of coronavirus cases in Japan and on mixed Japanese economic data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is edging down 10.05 points or 0.04 percent to 26,658.30, after climbing to a high of 26,716.61 in early trades. Japanese stocks closed near a three-decade high on Thursday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing more than 3 percent, while Fast Retailing is adding 0.2 percent. In the tech space, Advantest is rising 0.5 percent, while Tokyo Electron is down 0.2 percent.

The major exporters are mixed on a slightly stronger yen. Canon is rising more 0.5 percent and Mitsubishi Electric is adding 0.3 percent, while Sony is lower by more than 1 percent and Panasonic is down 0.6 percent.

Among automakers, Honda is down 0.2 percent and Toyota is adding 0.5 percent. In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial are edging up 0.1 percent each.

Among the other major gainers, Nippon Yusen is gaining almost 6 percent, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha is rising more than 5 percent and Mitsui OSK Lines is higher by almost 4 percent.

Conversely, Pacific Metals and Taiheiyo Cement are losing almost 2 percent each.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the mid 103 yen-range on Friday.

In economic news, data showed that Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.9 percent in November from 3.1 percent in October.

Meanwhile, core consumer prices in Tokyo fell 0.9 percent in December from a year earlier, compared to a 0.7 percent decline in November.

Chinese stocks are modestly lower despite the slight gains overnight on Wall Street. China's investigation into retail giant Alibaba Group for suspected monopolistic behavior continued to weigh on the market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is down 7.89 points or 0.23 percent to 3,355.22.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and South Korea are closed in observance for Christmas.

On Wall Street, stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday amid news that U.K. and the European Union have reached a post-Brexit trade agreement. The news of the agreement comes just a week before a December 31 deadline, offsetting recent concerns about a potential no-deal Brexit. The rollout of coronavirus vaccines has also propped up hopes that the economic recovery can gain momentum next year. Nevertheless, uncertainty about the stimulus package approved by Congress kept buying interest subdued.

The Dow rose 70.04 points or 0.2 percent to 30,199.87, the Nasdaq rose 33.62 points or 0.3 percent to 12,804.73 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.05 points or 0.4 percent to 3,703.06.

The major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday, with the German markets closed for the holidays. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.